USA > Iowa > Monroe County > An illustrated history of Monroe County, Iowa > Part 9
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After engaging in several skirmishes with the enemy, the regiment, on February 1, 1865, was detached from the brigade and ordered to Memphis.
While stationed at Memphis the following named officers of the regiment were assigned to special duty: Captain R. M. Reynolds, acting assistant inspector-general; Lieutenant Sam'l T. Craig, acting assistant adjutant-general.
The next move was an expedition into Mississippi, in which the command had frequent skirmishes with the enemy, but sustained no serious loss.
The regiment returned to Memphis on March 11th, and then, in company with other regiments, went on a tour into Tennessee.
At about this time Richmond had fallen, and the First Iowa Cavalry, the Fifth and Twelfth Illinois, Second Wis- consin, and Seventh Indiana Cavalry regiments were ordered to Texas on June 15th. They were transferred by boat, and arrived at Natchez on the 25th.
At Alexandria, General Custer took command of the troops, and here began a series of abuses and ill treatment on the part of Custer, towards the regiment, which is a last- ing blemish to the character of the long-haired hero, who in after years met a terrible fate in the Little Big-horn massacre.
The First Iowa had been recommended to him as the next best in efficiency of any regiment in the United States
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service, the first being one in the regular United States service.
Yet, notwithstanding the special recommendation of Generals Herron, Schofield, Blunt, Rosecrans, Davidson, Steele, Carr, and others, besides that of the Military Bureau at Washington, General Custer seems, for some strange reason, to have visited on this regiment all the indignities and abuses of which the most insolent martinet could conceive. About this time Custer issued an order against foraging, imposing severe penalties against any canght confiscating cattle belonging to the inhabitants of the country. Private Clure, of the First Iowa, was accused of knowing who killed two beeves that had been killed by a foraging party and brought in from the country. He did not know who killed them, yet his head was shaved and he was given twenty-five lashes on suspicion that he did know. The indignation of the regiment was so great that Surgeon Chas. H. Lothrop, of the regiment, states, in his history of the regiment, that good Colonel McQueen, a strict Presbyterian. swore like a trooper, threatening that "if Custer again attempts to lay violent hands on a First Iowa soldier, I will here say his hide will not hold corn, by God!"
Governor Stone laid the case before the Iowa Legis- lature, and a rousing resolution was passed, denouncing the outrage on the part of Custer. The matter finally went to Major-General Sheridan, who ordered the insult rectified. Custer, in vindication of the act, accused the entire com- mand of infamy and insubordination.
The war was now over, and while the command ro- mained at Hempstead, the time was mostly taken up in horse-racing. Custer was fond of the sport, and had a horse which he called Jack Rucker, on which he and his friends bet a great deal of money; but one day the boys brought into camp a strange nag, which outran that of the general, and the result was that he was out considerable money.
On November 19th General Custer sent Assistant Quartermaster Sam'l T. Craig to Galveston to procure sup- plies for the troops.
From Hempstead the command was transferred to Austin, where the troops remained until January 24, 1866, when, by a general order, the First Iowa. Third Michigan. and Seventh Indiana regiments were mustered out of the service.
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All the troops entertained a wholesome hatred towards Custer. His acts of insolence were doubtless rendered more unbearable from the fact that his command felt that the war was over, and that there was no further necessity for their presence in Texas. Custer complained that he could not induce them to wear pants, but Lieutenant-Colonel A. G. McQueen, of the First Iowa, says that in many in- stances they had none to wear; some had to go shirtless, and others barefooted.
Previous to the mustering out of the regiments, General Custer and his staff had been mustered out of the service by order of the War Department, and Brigadier-General S. D. Sturgis assumed command, and Colonel and Brevet Briga- dier-General Wm. Thompson was placed in command of the First Brigade.
History of the Sixth Iowa Infantry.
In July, 1861, the Sixth Iowa was mustered into the United States service at Burlington, with John A. McDowell as colonel; Marcoe Cummings, of Muscatine, lieutenant- colonel; John M. Corse, of Burlington, major.
Company A, Captain H. W. Gray, was enrolled from Linn County; Company B, Captain Daniel Iseminger, was enrolled from Lucas and Clarke counties; Company C, Captain D. M. Stump, was enrolled from Hardin County; Company D, Captain M. M. Walden, was enrolled from Appanoose County ; Company E, Captain Henry Saunders, was enrolled from Monroe County; Company F, Captain S. P. Glenn, was enrolled from Clarke County; Company G, Captain John Williams, was enrolled from Johnson County; Company H, Captain W. Galland, was enrolled from Lee County; Company I, Captain F. Brydolf, was enrolled from Des Moines County ; Company K, Captain W. Denison, was enrolled from Henry County.
To most of the boys of the Sixth, that Sunday morning of April 7, 1862, when the rebels assaulted General Grant's center at Shiloh, may now seem like a dream. It was their first real taste of war. Many of the boys of the regiment had never seen a battle, nor heard the roar of artillery until the preceding day. The regiment had been mustered into the service at Burlington, and on August 3d had been ordered to Keokuk, and after participating in a movement
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to repel a threatened attack of rebels on Athens, Mo .. on August 5th, the regiment was hurried off to St. Louis, August 9, 1861, for the seat of conflict.
On the 19th of September, 1861, the regiment was ordered to Jefferson City, and on the 7th of October it was merged into Frémont's army at Tipton, Mo., where the army of 30,000 was reviewed by the Secretary of War and Adjutant-General Thomas, on the 13th of the same month.
The Sixth Iowa was among the troops that made a forced march to Springfield, a distance of seventy-five miles. in two days, on short rations. When they arrived November 3d, Frémont was relieved by Hunter, and on the 9th the regiment was ordered back.
It remained at Sedalia until December 9th, when it marched to Lamine Bridge; and on January 22, 1862, it was stationed at Tipton to perform guard duty. Colonel Me- Dowell, who was mustered into the service as colonel of this regiment, was at this time absent on leave, and Lieutenant- Colonel Cummings took command of the regiment. Major Corse was also absent, being detached on the staff of General Pope as adjutant-general.
The Sixth was ordered to Pittsburg Landing on March 9th. On April 6th the regiment was assigned a position near Owl Creek in the vicinity of Shiloh Church.
For a detailed statement of the part taken by the Sixth Infantry we are indebted to H. Hickenlooper, a member of Company E of the regiment, who kindly supplies us with the following:
"On the morning of April 6, 1862, the First Brigade of the Fifth Division of Grant's army was encamped with its right resting on Owl Creek, and its left out towards Shiloh Church. Colonel McDowell, of the Sixth Iowa, commanded the brigade, and Lieutenant-Colonel Cummings commanded the Sixth Iowa Regiment ; this regiment was the extreme right regiment of the brigade and of the whole of Grant's army at that place. The rebel column did not attack this brigade in its position, but moved to the left and made their attack on the line on the left of this brigade.
"About this time Colonel McDowell discovered, or thought he discovered, that Cummings was intoxicated. and ordered him under arrest : and the command of the regiment then devolved upon Iseminger, of Company B, he being the ranking captain. Soon the regiment, with the brigade, -7
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was ordered to the left, and the regiment took a position about a half-mile to the left, or east of the first position, and there fought a short time, and several were killed and wounded at this place.
"Meantime the rebels had driven our line back on the left, or east of us, and the brigade was marched to the rear and left about a mile, and joined onto McClernand's right. Here the brigade charged the rebel line and drove it back about a quarter of a mile, and held this position about three hours, during the most desperate fighting of that whole day.
"Here Captain Iseminger was killed, and the com- mand of the regiment by rank should have devolved on Captain Walden, but Colonel McDowell ordered Captain Williams, of Company G, to take command of the regiment. He, too, was soon badly wounded and unable to command, and Captain Walden, being offended, would not assume com- ·mand, and for a long period during the battle the regiment had no commander.
"Lieutenant-Colonel Cummings, who was under arrest. got a gun and fell into the ranks of Company E, Captain. Saunders' company, and fought 'like a Turk.'
"The regiment held this position until about 3 o'clock p. m., and the rebels were fighting in front, to the right, and to the right rear; when General Sherman came galloping up to our rear and told us, 'For God's sake, get out of here. or you will all be captured! The regiment, as well as all other regiments in that line, moved to the rear with great alacrity, without any regard for military tactics-in fact, we 'skedaddled' for about a mile, when the regiment rallied and re-formed under command of Captain Saunders, who was next in rank to Captain Walden. The whole line was slowly moved back towards the Tennessee River. Regi- ments, brigades, and divisions were badly mixed up.
"The Sixth Towa took a position in the line about three regiments to the left of a battery of heavy guns-four 32- pound siege-guns and two 32-pound howitzers. There was no support for the battery. Meantime Captain Walden had assumed command of the regiment, and presently we saw old Colonel Webster, chief of artillery. riding down the line on a white horse and making an effort to get a regiment to support the battery. The first two regiments nearest the battery refused to move, and he came on down the line to the Sixth Iowa and asked Captain Walden to move his
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regiment up to the battery, with which request the captain complied, and the regiment was placed in position in the rear of the battery, and just in time to meet a charge of the rebels. Never was a battery worked better than that one until the rebel line was almost to the guns; when the gunners shouldered their swabs and fell back to the rear.
"It was now after sundown, and the artillery kept up a continuous fire, and the gun-boats, Tyler and Lexington, in the river, about half a mile from the mouth of the ravine over which the rebels had to cross, kept up a furious cross- fire. At length, when it was almost dark, too dark to see farther than a few rods in our front, the rebel masses came on again, and with a rush, almost to the guns, when again the regiment charged past the guns and met them with another volley, and then continued to fire as fast as the men could load and shoot, until there was nothing in our front to be seen or heard, except the groans and cries of the wounded rebels.
"The regiment again retired to the rear of the battery and remained there the balance of the night, but the batteries all along the line and the gun-boats in the river kept up an occasional firing all night.
"Some time after the musketry fire had all ceased along the line, an officer came down the line and told us General Buell had arrived on the opposite side of the river. Soon General Buell himself and staff came riding along in rear of our line. Three cheers were proposed for him and the stars and stripes, which were given with all the vim left in our throats, but it was rather sorrowful cheering.
"Soon Nelson's division came marching past our front. regiment after regiment, with their bands playing, and appearing fresh and vigorous, and all the night through regiments and batteries kept passing along, taking positions in our front. We remained at the battery that we had supported. In the fore part of the night there came up a storm of great fury, which continued all night.
"Before daylight Buell's men and Lew Wallace's men, who had come up in the night, commenced to move out in front; at about daylight, and about a mile in front of our line, the fighting commenced, and the firing was by volleys and ran all along the line for two or three miles away to the southeast, south, and southwest, and continued without intermission for several hours.
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"General Sherman ordered the Sixth to remain in its position at the battery until nearly noon, when he came along and ordered it to follow General Oglesby, but soon Colonel Garfield came and took command, and Oglesby left for some other part of the field. Soon the regiment passed the line of battle. The rebels had fallen back. The regi- ment passed the church and on, into a field growing in bushes and small timber, when suddenly it ran into a rebel battery concealed in the bushes. The battery shelled the regiment briskly for a short time, when it limbered up and fled to the rear.
"Thus ended the part taken by the Sixth Iowa Infantry at the battle of Shiloh.
"Lieutenant-Colonel Cummings was court-martialed and dismissed from the regiment, but he afterwards went to New York, where he became colonel of a New York regiment, and greatly distinguished himself in some of the battles about Richmond."
After the siege of Corinth the Sixth Jowa went west along the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, repairing track and bridges which the rebels had destroyed after having evacuated Corinth. On or about July 4, 1863, the regiment moved against Price at Holly Springs, and drove the rebels from their position.
Then, on the 17th of July, they arrived at Memphis and remained for three months doing provost guard duty. Then in October the division, including the Sixth Iowa, went on an expedition into Mississippi and returned in a week, to find that a battle had been fought at Corinth.
Then shortly after, in November, Grant's army started for Vicksburg in his attack on the rear. The Sixth was included in General J. W. Denver's division of Sherman's corps and accompanied Grant's army. On the march to Vicksburg Sherman returned with a portion of his corps to Memphis, and General Denver's division continued with Grant. General Van Dorn came in the rear and destroyed the entire army supplies at Holly Springs; forcing the Union army back to the Memphis and Charleston Railroad.
The Sixth Infantry in January, 1863, was stationed at various points along the railroad, mounted on mules, which the soldiers had captured. During its stay near Grand Junction, the Sixth made frequent raids into Mississippi.
Early in June the regiment arrived in the vicinity of
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Vicksburg and was placed in General Park's command of the Ninth Army Corps, doing outpost duty.
On the surrender of Vicksburg, July 14th, the regiment was marched back to Black River to drive back Johnson's army, and on the 6th, while hemmed in, in a bend of the river, had a severe brush with the enemy, but succeeded in driving it back, and in crossing the river.
The regiment arrived at Jackson on the 10th, and from the 10th to 16th participated in almost constant skirmishes with the enemy. On the 16th the fighting was so severe that on the following morning the rebels had entirely abandoned the city, after having burned their supplies.
After the battle of Chickamauga, the regiment, together with the entire Fifteenth Army Corps, was loaded in boats and taken to Memphis, Tenn., and then set out on a 400-mile march through Tennessee to Missionary Ridge, and partici- pated in that battle. After the battle, the regiment was sent up to Knoxville, Tenn., to relieve Burnside, and returning a short time later, went into winter quarters at Scottsborough, Ala., and on April 1, 1864, started home on a thirty-days furlough.
The regiment returned to the front, and marched with Sherman to Atlanta and took part in all the engagements before that city. The corps (the Fifteenth) was under command of General Logan.
Mission Ridge.
The Sixth Iowa Infantry arrived in the vicinity of Lookout Mountain three or four days in advance of Sher- man's corps.
The regiment and brigade was ordered up Lookout Valley as a diversion, taking a position on the mountain in the rear of the rebel lines, remaining two nights and a day, making a big noise to deceive the rebels as to numbers.
On the second day of their arrival the enemy attacked the regiment in force, when it retired down the mountain. The Sixth then pursued its march down the valley, marching all night and arriving at Moccasin Bend in the morning. It crossed on pontoon bridges, which were being continually broken by rafts floated down the stream by the rebels, and then took a position opposite the mouth of the Chickamauga River.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
In the meantime the battle of Lookout Mountain was in progress across the river. About midnight of November 23d the army recrossed the river at its mouth, and were assigned a position on the extreme right of the corps. It then moved forward to Mission Ridge, and, charging up the ridge, deployed as skirmishers.
On the 25th the brigade was ordered, with picks, shovels, and guns, to advance on the enemy. This was the opening of the engagement, and, after repeated charges, they gave up the hope of forcing the enemy back. The boys would charge on the lines, and, being hurled back, would retire over the brow of a hill to re-form. They re- mained here all night, and in the morning found that the enemy had retired.
After the fall of Atlanta, the regiment went on the famous march to the sea; was at Savannah a short time, and then, after a long and memorable campaign through Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia, rounded up at the city of Washington, at the close of the war, and was a conspicuous regiment in that grand review up Pennsylvania Avenue.
Lieutenant-Colonel Cune, of Burlington, was the last commander of the regiment.
The regiment took a prominent part in the battles of Shiloh, Resaca, Mission Ridge, Dallas, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain, Jackson, Black River Bridge, Jones' Ford, Griswaldsville, and numerous fights of less note, and was mustered out of the service at Louisville, Ky., July 21, 1865.
History of the Thirty-sixth Iowa Infantry.
The following sketch was kindly furnished by Hon. Josiah T. Young, a member of the regiment:
"This regiment was organized in August, 1862, from the counties of Appanoose, Monroe, and Wapello. C. W. Kit- tredge, of Ottumwa, was its first colonel. He had seen ser- vice as captain in one of the companies of the Seventh Iowa Infantry, and was wounded in the battle of Belmont, Mo. Being somewhat recovered, Govenor Kirkwood commis- sioned him for the Thirty-sixth. F. M. Drake was made lieutenant-colonel, E. B. Woodward major, A. H. Hamilton adjutant. The place of rendezvous was Camp Lincoln, on the banks of the Mississippi River above Keokuk. By the
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20th of September, 1862, the companies had arrived and were assigned quarters in commodious barracks. The Thir- tieth Iowa, Colonel Abbott, was then preparing for active
C. W. KITTREDGE, COL. THIRTY-SIXTH IOWA INFANTRY.
service at the front. Our regiment settled down at once to the duties of camp life. The companies had received some instructions before leaving home in infantry drill. Scott's Taetics was used, and . Hay foot, straw foot" could be heard
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on the drill-grounds. Major J. B. Teas, of Albia, had seen service in the Black Hawk War and was instructor for Com- panies A and K a portion of the time. At Camp Lincoln the company officers were soon able to instruct their commands in all the drill necessary in the school of a soldier.
"The first guns used were Belgian or Austrian rifles with sword bayonets. Our blue uniforms came ere long, and each man soon began to feel himself a soldier. The regi- ment was regularly mustered into the service of the United States on the 4th day of October, 1862, at Camp Lincoln, Iowa, by Lieutenant C. J. Ball, of the regular army.
"The fall election came on for the choosing of State officers and members of Congress, and the Thirty-sixth Iowa voted in camp. Captain M. J. Varner was on the board of election. Mr. J. B. Grinnell was elected to the lower house. On November 28, 1862, six companies were embarked on board the Fred Lorenze, and on the 29th the remaining four companies on the Harrison, and next day landed in St. Louis and marched out to Benton Barracks, where the command found quarters and engaged in the duties incident to the preparation for the active life of soldiers. Regular details were made on us for men to serve on camp guard, fatigue duty, policing camp, etc. The regiment was in Benton Bar- racks from December 1st to 19th; on the latter day orders came to "fall in," for we didn't know where. The order was obeyed, and the regiment was soon on board the Jennie Deans and Warsaw, which landed it in Memphis, Tenn., Tues- day evening, December 23, 1862.
"On this trip, when nearing Columbus, Kentucky, the regiment was ordered to prepare for battle, which it did. On reaching the landing-place in Columbus, we were hurried on shore, marched to an open place, and formed into line of bat- tle-rifles freshly loaded and forty rounds in cartridge- boxes-to wait for Forrest. The night wore away, Forrest did not come, and the regiment marched on board of the boats. The first night in Memphis the men of the command slept by their guns in Court Square, Memphis, around the marble bust of General Jackson-a beautiful place, nice shade-trees, every prospect pleasing. A day or two later we were moved to Fort Pickering, being the exact line where General Jackson prepared to receive Packenham and his army in 1815. The stay here was brief, as on the last day of the old year we were landed in Helena, Arkansas, in the midst of a rain-storm.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
"Helena was and is the county seat of Phillips County, Arkansas. At the time of our arrival it was held by some 5,000 Union forces. It was a sort of supply station for our army, and was garrisoned largely by convalescent soldiers. Fort Curtis was manned by several heavy guns located so as to command the shores and hills of the river. The regi- ment went on duty in whatever capacity placed, and was fast learning a soldier's duties, when General Gorman sent a force of men to Moon Lake on the east bank of the river, about twelve miles below Helena, and blew up the embank- ment, letting the water from the river overrun the whole country.
"By the 26th of February, 1863, the Yazoo Pass expedi- tion, several thousand strong, was on its way down toward Fort Pemberton, Mississippi. General Clinton B. Fiske was in command. The Thirty-sixth Iowa was on the steamboats Mariner and Lavina Logan. The river was crooked, narrow, and deep-treesonits bank hung over the water, making nav- igation slow and difficult. Many times the boats were greatly injured-in some cases their smoke-stacks were knocked down and the "gingerbread work" nearly all broken off. Two or three rebel boats were in our front; these were chased by our fleet. One, the Parallel, a large boat loaded with cot- ion, was fired and abandoned by the enemy. The burning bales illumined far and near the wooded shores of the crooked river. Fort Pemberton was situated at the conflu- ence of the Yallabeesha and Tallahachie rivers. Below this the stream is known as the Yazoo River. Major-General W. W. Loring was in command of the fort. We were halted at the village of Greenwood by obstructions in the river. The Chillicothe, one of our gun-boats, first engaged in an artillery duel with the enemy, which made a loud noise, but no results.
"Next day, March 13, 1863, our regiment was sent to the front, and held in battle-line while the naval forces on the Union side carried on a furious fight with great guns, which lasted several hours. The next morning witnessed the ro- newal of artillery fight with Pemberton until an 18-pound shot from the enemy's line entered one of the port-holes of the Chillicothe, killing 4 and wounding 7 of her men. The fight was kept up on our part by the gun-boat De Kalb and by our land batteries until sundown. The next morning the com- mander of the Union forces concluded to give it up and start back up the river, which he did.
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HISTORY OF MONROE COUNTY, IOWA.
"General Quimby, with a force of several thousand men, met us on the 27th of March and assumed command. All our forces were soon in motion, going down to give Fort Pemberton another turn. But on March 23d he received an order from General Grant to go back up the river, abandon- ing the seige of Fort Pemberton. While in camp in front of Fort Pemberton the Thirty-sixth was ordered out on an ex- pedition of exploration to find a way of approach to the fort, but no way was discovered. Water was in our way in all directions. That trip made many cases of sickness in our ranks. The men were compelled to wade in water waist- deep in some places, and exposure brought on sickness, which resulted in death during that spring and summer. The regi- ment reached Helena again on the 8th day of April, 1863, and went into camp near Fort Curtis, where it did garrison duty. About the 2d day of May the Third Iowa Cavalry got into a fight with Dobbins' rebel guerrillas at Lagrange, about twenty miles from Helena, and lost several men, killed, wounded, and prisoners, including Adjutant Lowe, son of Governor Lowe, who was mortally wounded. The Thirty- sixth Iowa, with other troops, was ordered out to help the cavalry. We went, but the rebels were such good runners that we did not overtake them. The men of the command got lots of good chickens and other things good to eat. Time passed, and soon it began to be in the talk of those best posted that the rebels would attack us.
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